Thursday, March 9, 1989 - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Page 7A
The Westside As A Colony
Guest Editorial
By Kelly Alexander
One way of looking at the
problems of Charlotte's west-
side Is to consider It as a coloni
al outpost of the more affluent
sections of the city.
Demonstratively, the westside
has been dominated In the po
litical, social and economic de
velopment of the community by
the southeast. In over 30 years
no Charlotte mayor has lived on
the westside. It was not until the
1977 referendum on district rep
resentation, where neighbor
hood activists and the black
community formed a working
partnership.
that the west-
side gained
identifiable
representatlo
n on the City
Council.
Political de
cisions are
made for colo
nies by the de
cision makers
In the mother
country. In
Charlotte, the
Alexander
political decisions that affect
the westside have been made by
city councils that have been
dominated by other interests.
The most recent examples of
this are the loss of the Charlotte
Knights Stadium to York Co.,
South Carolina: the holding
hostage of the city's bonding ca
pacity for road construction; the
attempt to locate a trash con
solidation facility near the Uni
versity Park neighborhood and
the protracted flap over com
pensation for property owners
Impacted by over-flights from
the airport. The location of the
Charlotte Coliseum on the west-
side came in the face of deter
mined efforts to have it sited up
town.
The affluent tend to immedi
ately recognize common self-
interest, i.e., traffic congestion
where they drive to and from
work; low water pressure when
they want to water their lawns.
The affluent resist change when
confronted by demands that
they view as In opposition to
progress, as they define it.
They have defined develop
ment of the southeast Into the
premier area of the city, while
paying only token attention to
Wilkinson Boulevard, West
Boulevard and Beatties Ford
Road, as a major public policy
priority. Shopping malls, retail
stores, restaurants, movie thea
ters, banks and savings & loans
are abundant throughout the
southeast. The westside dims in
comparison, with only occa
sional points of light at Univer
sity City or along Freedom Drive
or Sugar Creek Road.
Some of this sad state of af
fairs, the westside has brought
upon Itself. After the euphoria of
the '77 referendum, westside
voters failed to develop perfor
mance standards for their elect
ed officials. Westslders never
developed a working definition
of what constituted a fair share
of public expenditures on Infra
structure and special projects.
The westside suffers from lack
of partisan attention to its
needs by Its representatives.
Those who would assume the re
sponsibility of representing the
westside must be able and will
ing to articulate the economic
development and social equity
concerns of the area. Such a
posture may well be incompati
ble with the "good old boy" poli
tics of the City Council and
County Commission.
The westside also has failed to
maximize its political clout
through vigorous voter registra
tion and mobilization activities.
Westslders must learn the Im
portance of participation In the
political process. Turnout Is the
key. The potential exists for dra
matic Increases In westside vot
er participation. The westside
has the potential of being the
pivotal vote In deciding who will
win election to the at-large
Council seats. It Is overshad
owed In the at-large races now
because of lower voter turnout
relative to the southeast, and a
lack of native son candidates to
ally around. The westside seems
to have unwisely placed all of Its
eggs In the district basket, while
leaving the at-large races to oth
ers.
Relative to the southeast, the
westside is the stronghold of the
working class. It Is the home of
the majority of the city's black
citizens. It Is an area that has
provided the Intellectual base
for both the Concerned Parents
Association and the NAACP. It
Is the home of major Industrial
parks and both Interstate high
ways and two universities. C. W.
Kidd calls It home as does Rev.
Joseph Chambers, Leroy "Pop"
Miller and Ron Leeper.
The westside doesn't lack for
talent, just coherent organiza
tion that crosses neighborhood,
ethnic and philosophical lines.
It is time for the westside to
"get Its act together" and take Its
place as a co-equal partner In
the development of Charlotte.
The writer is executive secre
tary of the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Branch and presi
dent of the North Carolina State
NAACP.
Black Support Led To Springfest Victory
Dear Editor;
This letter Is addressed to
The Charlotte Post and the
community of Charlotte.
We extend our slncerest and
warmest thanks to you, Eldltor
Jalyne Strong, and The Char
lotte Post for the timely and
professional reporting on the
lack of black participation In
Springfest, our city's celebra
tion.
We also thank Charlotte's
black community for Its over
whelming support of Balloon-
A-Grams In this Issue. The
flood of phone calls, letters
and other Inquiries made the
difference. The black commu
nity's Interest In this Issue
made It possible to open the
doors at Springfest, Inc, not
only for Balloon-A-Grams as a
vendor for 1989, but also for
other black vendors, artists,
potential committee and
board members.
Springfest Is one of the larg
est celebrations of Its kind In
the United States. Since Its in
ception, we (black people)
have been gracious supporters
of Springfest as volunteers
and, most of all, as consu
mers.
Our recent victory demon
strates the enormous power we
have In our community.
The situation we have just
gone through Is also signifi
cant because It raises ques
tions about policies of other
downtown Charlotte celebra
tions.
We hope evetyone will join
us In thanking councilmem-
ber Ella Scarborough, MWBE
Coordinator Liz Mills, and
Vivian Nivens, former Spring
fest board member, for their
courageous stands and out
spoken postures.
Last but certainly not least,
we thank our attorney, Mr.
Wayne C. Alexander, for his
unrelenting support and dedi
cation to the positive growth
or Charlotte and "all" Its citi
zens.
In closing, we would like to
remind the black business
community that we are re
sponsible for providing Infor
mation In order to guide our
black dollars.
It Is within our dollars that
our power lies.
CAROLYN MASON
and the staff of
Balloon-A-Grams
Post Editorial On Athletic Propositions Was Sensible
Dear Editor:
My compliments on Gerald
Johnson's editorial in the
February 23, 1989 issue of The
Charlotte Post.
It was the first, well written.
sensible position I have read
on the controversy concerning
college athletics and the two
propositions.
The current argument seems
to be over how "unqualified"
can a student be and still be an
athlete, rather than how qual
ified should they be to attend
college In the first place.
HUGH DURDEN
Whab's On Your Mind?
Let us hear your comments, ideas and opinions. Write to:
Letters To The Post
P.O. Box 30144
Charlotte, NC 28230
Please include name, address and phone number. We edit letters for clarity and grammar.
Confusing The Messenger With The Self-Help Message
Too many of "the most visible
of our black information provid
ers" are "overstating" the
"repetitive song" of self-help —
especially "articles like Tony
Brown's can lie counterproduc
tive and even damaging to the
very people whom they are in
tended to help." Lonzie Cox Jr.
wrote on the editorial page of
"Here's what I mean. While I for
one have always thought Tony
Brown had a good grasp of our
communities' goals, needs and
problems nationwide, he seems
to have narrowed his view to the
point where he thinks self-help
Is the only change that Black
America needs. While I agree
with him that self-help Is a vital
compromise in our recovery to
economic and social lev
els... self-help Is not the only an
swer and should not be touted
as such," he added.
In my opinion, Cox's criticisms
are very reasonable and typical
— typical in the sense that he
represents the point of view of
the vast majority of black peo
ple. He would have to, or how
else could you explain the fact
that we spend 95 percent of our
money with non-black people? I
readily concede that Cox Is
more representative of naive
mainstream black disinforma
tion than I am.
I say naive because Cox ex
pects "George Bush to be a Pres
ident for ail the American peo
ple," after he accuses Bush of
winning "the election by flat out
racist tactics." Think logically
about what he Is saying.
He deducts that the man he
accuses of bigotry will be color
blind. That's a contradiction --
no, that's wishful thinking. First,
George Bush is not a bigot and
did not win because of racism.
Second, politics Is a game of
quid pro quo -- you give to me
and I give to you — not a social
game of Scrabble. Therefore,
blacks gave Bush 12 percent of
their vote and Bush gives them
12 percent of his attention.
Cox's logic consistently ex
pects something for nothing:
You spend all of your money
with white people and blame
them for all of your problems.
You can give the Democrats all
of your votes and expect the vic
torious Republicans to politi
cally reward you.
Tony
Brown’s
Commentaries
Logically, if that were in vogue
In the black community. It Is
Jesse Jackson from whom
blacks should seek relief for
their various miseries because It
is to Jesse Jackson that blacks
surrendered their votes. If your
political choice loses, so do you.
That's the way the game of quid-
pro-quo politics Is played.
I know that I run the risk of be
ing run out of the club for em
ploying logic. Instead of a con
stant barrage of demagogic
blaming of white people. Cox
proves this point: 'When white
America sees people like Tony
Brown blaming all our problems
on us. they're more than happy
to jump on the bandwagon —
and blame us too."
Why should black people be
concerned about white opinion
at all? Only if you're dependent
on them financially do you have
to be. And you will be so long as
you spend 95 percent of your
money with them. We will be
freed by the truth — not by re
placing white lies with black
lies.
it seems to me that a more vi
able concern would be a plan to
retain a larger percentage of our
Income, buy our freedom and let
our resulting economic and po
litical power shape white opin
ion (since that's so important to
so many blacks).
Cox seems to suggest, howev
er. that If I and other blacks who
believe In self-help. Instead of
white people — and white peo
ple's goodwill, emphasize our
primary responsibility, espe
cially in the area of economics
in changing our condition, we
become the enemy.
This convoluted, mainstream,
demagogic logic proves that
white racism Is not the primary
problem. It is an Ignorance of
the facts. Facts such as; White
people, no matter what you
think they owe you for slavery,
Jim Crow, segregation, etc., are
not going to pay up; Black peo
ple are generally disliked and
shunned: Black people are near
social and economic extinction
in America; and time is not on
our side.
Cox says that "self-help Is a vi
tal compromise in our recov
ery..." What I see as our salva
tion, he sees as a "compromise."
It Is this dependency logic (not
Cox personally) that has al
ready compromised Black
America.
How, I ask you, can a people
expect someone else to help
them when they refuse to help
themselves? And how can
blacks expect political and so
cial stability with no — I mean
zilch — economic base?
One black head of a national
organization wrote that the per
capita Income for blacks was
only $575 for every $1,000 for
whites, which proves that
blacks did not share in the Rea
gan "economic comeback." His
conclusion Is that "If blacks had
incomes comparable to white,
African-Americans would have
an additional $162 billion In
purchasing power."
Why Is the gape there in the
first place? Because blacks
spend 95 percent of their money
with whites.
Would the black condition
change if blacks had $162 bil
lion more In purchasing power?
No. Based on the current pat
tern of black consumer con
sumption, blacks would give
whites 95 percent of $412 bil
lion — Instead of the current
$250 billion. No relative eco
nomic growth would take place.
So 1 say to the Coxes of Black
America, keep spending all of
your money with your alleged
enemy and blaming the Tony
Browns for pointing It out. But
blaming the messenger for the
message won't change our sltua^
tion.
Only self-help will.
TONY BROWN'S JOURNAL
TV series can be seen on public .
television Sunday on Channel
42 at 5 p.m. It can also be seen
on Channel 58, Saturday, 1:30
p.m. Please consult listings.
Retailers Focusing On Wrong Issues?
Duke Signals Political Move To Right
While the election of Klans-
man David Duke is deplorable. It
Is also a reminder that the Far
Right Is far from dead.
George Bush and Lee Atwater
are trying to clean up the Image
of the Republican Party as a
platform for every Right Wing fa
natic from Duke to Dan Quayle.
But though the Republicans
might be trying to appear
"kinder and gentler," they are In
fact a reactionary party and
have succeeded In pulling the
entire political spectrum--
Includlng the Democrats--
further and further to the Right.
by
A
Lenora
FulanI
Black
.Wm
Empowerment
racial Independent party that
can represent the majority of
the American people who are
disenfranchised by the domina
tion of the Far Right.
This Is why I am so committed
to building a black-led, multl-
Flnally, If the Republicans are
so upset about Duke and the
Democrats are so upset about
LaRouche, It would seem to be In
their interest to support the leg
islation that eases ballot access
restrictions for Independent
parties so that candidates can
run for office In parties which
more precisely represent their
views.
Shopping once was a very
pleasurable occasion. I felt good
about buying something new
because my worries were behind
me. I even wanted to crow a bit.
But retailers today have forgot
ten about their customers' emo
tional needs.
1 have been a loyal Sears cus
tomer for over 25 years. I gladly
paid their premium on Items be
cause their quality warranted it.
Whenever something was wrong,
I merely returned It without any
hassle.
Yet, my faith In Sears has been
shaken In recent years. I have
been equipping my workshop
with Sears power tools. I was
taken aback at the salespersons
pushing service contracts for
these tools. I wondered If these
contracts implied that Sears
was no longer supplying high
quality Items.
I am only picking on Sears be
cause they get the lion's share of
my family's big ticket business.
But this same service contract
trend Is true for all the appli
ance dealers I have visited.
Some contracts, I vaguely recaill,
ran almost 50 percent of the val
ue of the purchase item for five
years coverage. This contract
seems foolhardy to me because
my Sears appliances never have
gone down under 10 years of
use.
My parents bought Fridgldalre
as long as I can remember. My
father Is a retired General Mo
tors man so my parents bought
Fridgldalre products when they
were a GM division. But I have
had to call the office of the pres
ident of White Consolidated In
dustries to negotiate an exten
sion on a warranty for a
Fridgldalre dishwasher.
Thus, shopping for big ticket
Items Is a trying experience
where the customers are left
wondering about the manufac
turers' faith In their products.
We customers shudder at the
thought that our appliance
salesperson is also a quasl-
Insurance sales person pushing
peace of mind. That is, service
contracts are nothing more than
making the American people
pay a surtax for peace of mind.
A similar shopping frustration
Is felt when purchasing small
ticket Items. I hear people
speaking venomously about
shopping at my neighborhood
Zayre store. Shopping at this
store Is a nightmare.
The store has excellent mer
chandise. You can find your way
around well. But when you tiy to
pay for Items, you usually find
yourself biting your lip to stave
your anger.
I can best make my point by
sharing a Christmas shopping
experience. My wife said she
wanted a flannel gown. I decided
to visit Zayre against my ijetter
judgment.
A saleslady helped me pick out
the perfect gown. I then got Into
the checkout line. There were
three people in front of me. An
elderly lady had bought some
children's coats, so she wrote a
check for over $200 to pay for
them.
The cashier called for a check ,
approver. It took three calls and
roughly 15 minutes before
someone came. Once the check
was finally approved, he rang It
up. The computer signaled that
the woman had written a prior
check. The cashier was stupe
fied.
Everyone In line dropped their
Items and walked out of the
store. I drove to Sears where I
bought two gowns.
The anguish of the people in
my neighborhood centers on the
incompetence of Za}Te's cash
iers. I made this point to the as
sistant store manager.
I told this fellow that I esti
mate that his store could In
crease its business by 20 per
cent If they corrected the
cashier problem. I suggested
that they get a bar-code system
so their untrained cashiers will
not have to spend so much time
calling to get the correct prices.
The Za3Te's assistant manager
shared his problem with getting
people to come to work and
their rapid employee turnover
problem.
If my 20 percent business In
crease estimate Is remotely on
target, then Zayre's high cashier
turnover rate suggests that they
ought to pay their cashiers sig
nificantly higher wages. Zayre
should also train these people
before putting them on the
checkout line.
The above incidences suggest
that American retailers are ig
noring the emotional needs of
their customers. On the other
hand, some manufacturers like
Majdag are exploiting this ca
veat In the marketplace. Are
some major U.S. retailers for-'
saklng business by focusing oh
the wrong Issues In the market
place?